Pixar’s Inside Out Sets Box Office Records

There was good news and bad news for Disney at the box office this weekend. The bad news first, Pixar’s “Inside Out” did not open at number one, breaking a 14 movie streak for the studio. The emotions of the film just could overcome the momentum of the dinosaurs in “Jurassic World” (which topped out at over $102 million earning it the top spot at the box office and additional records of its own).

But the good news is that “Inside Out” was close behind opening at a joyful $91 million, good enough for the second best Pixar opening ever (behind “Toy Story 3”) and the best opening ever for an original animated movie, heck not just animated movies, the best opening for any original film (“Avatar” previously held that spot at $77 million). Adding to its resume, it’s the fourth-biggest animated debut (behind “Shrek the Third” at $122M, “Toy Story 3” at $110M, and “Shrek 2” at $108M). Considering Disney originally had “Inside Out” targeted for a $60 million opening, a 50% increase over estimates is fantastic.

“Inside Out” faced additional competition overseas, but still managed to pull in an $41 million more bringing it’s world wide box office total to $132 million. That’s not too shabby either.

Pixar took a year off after production on “The Good Dinosaur” had to be retooled and “Inside Out” had to re-write it’s whole second half, that might have built up some anticipation for the next Pixar film. But I think the marketing that was able to capitalize on the extremely good word that came out of the early screening at Cannes, not to mention screenings of the film to online sites such as this one, has really helped get the word out about how outstanding “Inside Out” is. At one point it had a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. General word of mouth is that Pixar has returned to form and that it’s safe to come back out to the movies.

The next big competitor for “Inside Out” is probably “Minions.” That doesn’t open until July 10th. So, assuming every family in American didn’t rush out to see “Inside Out” this weekend, it should have a good showing for at least another week or two through the 4th of July holiday. When all finishes domestically, it’s probably looking at plus or minus $350 domestically. If you double that internationally, it would place it third among all Pixar films. Given the right circumstances it might do even better than that. What is your prediction for the final domestic and international box office for Pixar’s “Inside Out”?